I tried a monthly flower subscription from BloomsyBox and getting a surprise bouquet delivered each month brightened my entire winter

When you can't hand-deliver fresh flowers from your local farmers market or florist to special someone, an online flower delivery service is a great alternative.

Many of us here at Insider Reviews have tried these delivery services; in fact, we recently ordered 39 bouquets from 15 different brands for our testing of the best flower delivery services. We ended up naming BloomsyBox, an online flower shop that offers both single bouquet delivery and weekly or monthly bouquet subscriptions, as our best pick for flower subscription. Below you'll find our thoughts on the service, what it was like to use, and why we love it for recurring flower delivery. 

About BloomsyBox

BloomsyBox uses the "farm-to-table" model of partnering with small, sustainable, and family-owned farms in South Africa, France, Holland, South America, and California. All the flowers are hand-picked and cut just a few days before you receive them, so they're super fresh. Even after traveling in a box, they emerge looking vibrant and chipper. 

On the site you'll find BloomsyBox's offerings divided into two categories: Flower Shop (a la carte bouquets) and Subscriptions. 

Review of BloomsyBox Flower Shop

BloomsyBox offers many a la carte bouquets to choose from on the site, including roses of different colors; mixed bouquets with flowers like lilies, scabiosa, and sunflowers just to name a few; and tropical flowers. Individual bouquets start at $39.99 and potted plants such as orchids start at $34.99 before shipping.

I ordered the Sunrise Point bouquet in hopes of brightening up my current work-from-home setup, and it arrived within the week. It's not a surprise that it's no longer available — since flowers are seasonal, the variety of bouquets will change occasionally.

It came in a cardboard box wrapped in eco-friendly paper and it was secured tightly to the side of the box. A packet of flower food was also included. The flowers looked like they survived the trip from Quito, Ecuador (according to the FedEx tracking page) quite well — nothing was damaged or wilted. 

The bouquet looked great in a vase and I was excited to see the individual flowers bloom fully in a few days. Overall, I was impressed. That said, the a la carte offerings change frequently and are a bit more limited than other flower delivery services we've tested, like UrbanStems. The arrangements also lean more traditional, which may be a dealbreaker if you like more whimsical or modern designs.

Review of BloomsyBox's subscriptions

Lauren Savoie/Insider

Where BloomsyBox really shines, in our opinion, is in its flower subscription offerings. Currently there are 10 different subscriptions to choose from: one weekly option, one bi-weekly option, four monthly subscriptions of various sizes, and subscriptions for roses, plants, eucalyptus, and pet-safe blooms. The cost ranges from $39.99 for the monthly eucalyptus subscription to $69.99 for the monthly subscription made in conjunction with the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG), which is the one I opted to try. 

Over the course of three months I received three completely different bouquets. All were full and vibrant and featured blooms that went well with the seasons: pink and purple-y flowers for spring, then white, orange, and green colors as we started to transition into summer. Each bouquet comes with a little insert explaining this month's arrangement, with tips and facts from NYBG botanists. 

I loved how effortless it felt. Every month it was a surprise and a delight to have fresh blooms at my doorstep. The flowers were always healthy and well-packaged for delivery. Each bouquet stayed fresh a little over a week, though some individual flowers like the roses could last for several weeks (I usually pulled them out and put them in a separate vase when it was time to toss the other flowers in the arrangement). 

Lauren Savoie/Insider

Having tested many different flower delivery services, I can also say that the price is great. Shipping on subscription orders is free with BloomsyBox, which can be a big added cost with most flower delivery. BloomsyBox also offers discounts on prepaid subscriptions, so you can save even more if you commit to three, six, or twelve months of flowers. All the subscriptions are also giftable, which is a nice option if you want to surprise your recipient with recurring blooms.

The only real downside is that you don't get to pick the flowers that go into your arrangement; it's a surprise every time. As a cat owner, that made it difficult, since flowers like lilies are highly poisonous to cats and were pretty common in the bouquets I received. If I were to order a subscription again, I'd opt for the pet-safe monthly sub or perhaps the roses only sub. 

The bottom line

Outside of Valentine's Day or other holidays, flowers are also a wonderful and thoughtful gift for a healthcare worker in your life or someone who's struggling with the effects of social isolation during these times. We think BloomsyBox's recurring flower subscriptions are a great way to bring some regular cheer to a loved one (or to yourself). 

While BloomsyBox lacks more advanced features like filtering by delivery date or flower type, we still found it an easy and enjoyable flower delivery experience. You'll appreciate the transparency about the flower source, as well as the quality of the actual flowers and reliability of service. 

Shop all flowers at BloomsyBox here

Connie Chen

Connie Chen is a former senior reporter on the Insider Reviews team, where she led coverage of home textiles, home entertaining, and food and drink. While at Insider, she specialized in all the things that enhance life at home, from the most comfortable bed sheets and fluffy pillows to cool online wine clubs and bartender-approved cocktail shakers. She combined rigorous testing methods, conversations with professionals, and active knowledge of the home and kitchen space to help readers get the most out of their money. When she's not changing duvet covers or washing towels twice a day for articles, she loves talking about and trying the newest snacks, drinks, and food gifts. You can see more of her testing process and other behind-the-scenes of being a product journalist on her Instagram @connayreviews.  Connie joined Insider Reviews as an early member in 2017 and has also reported on products and services in the style, tech, fitness, travel, and e-learning spaces, with a particular interest and expertise in emerging startups. She has represented the team at CES and moderated panels on media business and the future of retail. Connie graduated from UC Berkeley with degrees in media studies and business administration, which help inform her perspective on and coverage of industry trends, as well as the competitive e-commerce landscape at large. Read some of her work: The 4 best cocktail shakers in 2021 The 7 best women's bathrobes in 2021 The 5 best wine openers and corkscrews we tested in 2021 The 5 best bed sheets we tested in 2021  The 5 best cordless vacuums we tested in 2021 12 direct-to-consumer kitchen startups that are changing the way we shop for cookware and knives 8 tableware startups changing the way we shop for dishes Even chefs experience cooking burnout — here's how they get re-inspired in the kitchen How businesses create successful virtual experiences 50 cookbooks from famous restaurants across the US that will help you recreate their best dishes at home Learn more about how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider here. Learn more about how we test kitchen products.

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Lauren Savoie

Deputy Executive Editor, Reviews & Chair of the Editorial Standards Board

Lauren Savoie is deputy executive editor of Insider Reviews and chair of Business Insider's editorial standards board. Lauren leads the home, kitchen, pets, and travel teams and is deeply involved in all editorial decision-making, with a particular focus on strategic content planning, career growth of reporters and editors, and strong journalistic standards for the Reviews team. In 2022, Lauren attended The Poynter Institute's Leadership Academy for Women in Media, a prestigious program that recognizes leaders in the journalism industry.Lauren joined the Business Insider team in 2020, first as kitchen editor and soon after as senior home & kitchen editor, where she pioneered original testing methodologies for buying guides and built a diverse team of freelancers and reporters with deep expertise in product testing. You can see some of her work in our guides to the best flower delivery services, the best pillows, and the best plus-size clothing. Before her time at Business Insider, Lauren was the senior reviews editor at America's Test Kitchen, where she wrote and edited more than 300 in-depth, unbiased buying guides and reviewed more than 1,000 kitchen products. Her work has appeared in Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines, in dozens of cookbooks, on two Emmy-nominated TV shows, and on CNN.com, Fodor's, Yahoo, LifeHacker, the Splendid Table, and more.Lauren is currently based in New York but continues to live like a lifelong Bostonian: drinking Dunkin' iced coffee in the winter, spending summers "down" the Cape, and sharing her home with a cat named Chowder. Say hello at lsavoie@businessinsider.com or @el_savvy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Learn more about how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider.

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